School: Maternity leave & ridiculousness

Having a blog through google is interesting... I can see how many "hits" it gets... but with only four of you being committed "followers," I know there are only 4 of you who get a notification when you log on to blogger that this page has been updated.  Other than you four, and my friends who tell me they read my blog, I really have no clue who the people are that read this.  Nice to meet you though :-) Anyways, I have not forgotten about this blog.  So for the three of you that told me to update this, here you go:

I have been MIA for the past two weeks on blog-world because well, I have been working 11 hour days at school and then usually another 2-3 hours at home.  Leaving the house at 6AM, getting home at 6pm.  Sound like fun? Not so much.  I miss my husband, I miss cooking delicious meals and I don't remember what it's like not to be working on school stuff. (Remember, we go to bed at 9, so when you finish dinner after 7, that doesn't leave much time before it's time to get ready for the next day.)

Anyways, I am FINALLY done with 6 weeks of lesson plans!!! Praise God.  I worked until 6pm last night (so glad my school neighbor Kim was there to keep me company!) and though there are some finishing touches, I am pretty much ready for my maternity-leave sub. 

This process has been so difficult because I usually plan ahead by a week or two, not two months ahead. I truly believe it is important to cater the pace of my lessons to the progress of the students... but when you are going to be gone for 6-8 weeks, you need something... So needless to say, it has been a struggle planning for all four of my "preps."  We have a brand new curriculum in French 1 this year so I have to make everything from scratch, which is a lot of work... and in a language class, you typically do at least 4-5 different "activities" each day (which could include presentation of content and practice)... but you also need to try to hit all four "areas"- reading, writing, speaking and listening... 

Why do I have to change activities so often? Oh, that's because teaching high school these days is actually like teaching elementary school.  Seriously.  The average attention span (especially of freshmen) is probably about 3-5 minutes long.


Let me just share a few moments of my week, all from French 1 (which is mostly freshmen): 


student: "How do you say __inappropriate word__ in French?" me: "I will not tell you that.  See if it's in the dictionary."  student: "It's in here!!!!!!" It says "taboo!" You are a "taboo!" me: "Ummm no.  Taboo means it is not socially acceptable to use that word... that is just the dictionary telling you that... the real definition would be the word after the word taboo." student: "Oh... hmmm... what?" 

me: Sit down. Keep your hands and feet to yourself." 

me: "Yes, that answer is correct, however you did not need to add the English word 'butt hole' underneath your answer..."

me: "___, put away the ipod." "____, stop texting." "____, put away the cell phone." "____, put away the ipad." "___, take out the ear bud." (latest trend: leaving one ear bud in apparently makes you super cool.)

student: "___ is taking a video on his ipad." me: walks over to student, says nothing, pushes buttons to stop recording, open video and put video in trash.  Student's mouth drops open. me: "what, think I don't know how to use an ipad?" student: "what if I wanted that video?" me: "for what?" student: "ummm for my funeral, so I could remember what high school was like?" me: "seriously?"  

student: "Can I touch your belly real quick?"

me: "Where is your packet for this unit?" student: "Oh, I'm just writing everything down on the one from the last unit." Because that makes sense... 

Comments from my upperclassmen:

"Do you want me to fill up your water bottle?"

"Let me get that marker you dropped on the floor."

"Can I help you pass out papers?"

"How are you feeling? How is the baby?"

"Seriously, I want to babysit for you."

"Are you so excited to have a baby?" 

Hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into the life of a high school teacher :-)

Menu Plan Monday 8/28

Another first day of school is over.  Year five is off to a good start, I think.  I have about 50% returning students, 50% new students, which is the norm when you are the only French teacher in your building.  I am teaching four classes of lower levels (1 & 2) this year and two of upper levels (3,4,5).  I have students fill out an info sheet on the first day, and it's always hilarious to read the comments of my returning students.  A few highlights: "What is your favorite snack?" Ribs. "Is there anything else you want me to know about you?" "I'm your favorite." "You love me." "Do you have any siblings? What are their names and ages?" "Princess and lil princess." Why did you take French this year?" "Uhhh because it's awesome."  That's right kiddos.  


Anyways, last week was SO crazy with teacher meetings and open house and family celebrations and such, so for once, I am going into the first week of school feeling much less stressed.  Yet my meals are still easy because well, it's the first week of school. 


Sunday: Beef & Spinach lasagna (that I froze for Grant to eat while I was in Montréal, and  he never needed), bread & salad
Monday: Chicken Cilantro Won Ton (from TJs) Soup (I boil chicken broth, add won tons & add some chopped green onion, some thinly sliced carrots... super easy), Garlic Broccoli Spears & egg rolls (from TJs)
Tuesday: Chicken Caesar Salads & pita
Wednesday: leftover lasagna
Thursday: Black Bean, Zucchini & Tomato Quesadillas, Mexican rice, chips & salsa
Friday: leftover quesadillas
Saturday: going to our very first Buckeyes game(!!) with my parents, then perhaps grilling out??


 For more menu planning ideas, go to http://orgjunkie.com/2011/08/menu-plan-monday-august-2911.html

Menu Plan Monday 6/6

Last. week. of. school. Hallelujah. While I thoroughly enjoyed (almost) all of my classes this year, this year was the most awful emotional roller coaster ever. Due to a levy failure, most of it was spent wondering if I would have a job next year or not. While things look very promising, I am a little upset that I will most likely walk out the doors in a few days without knowing for sure if I am here next year.

On a more positive note, this weekend was super fun. We stayed in Friday night and tried to recover from our lack of sleep from the week before, due to a broken a/c. Saturday we got to see our family visiting from Denver at lunch time and then got to hang out with our good friends Emily and Aaron that night. Sunday we saw the crew in from Denver again for lunch into the mid-afternoon and then tried to get ready for the week. We have a TON of leftovers going into the week, which has made the meal plan quite easy :-)

Sunday: leftovers from our lunch out on Saturday
Monday: leftovers from lunch at Grant's parents' house on Sunday
Tuesday: Greek Pita Sandwiches & pasta salad
Wednesday: TJs Sweet Italian Chicken Sausages w/ grilled onions & peppers, pierogies
Thursday: veggie burgers & noodles
Friday: pizza
Saturday: cookout w/ co-workers... I'm bringing pasta salad!

Could you eat a school lunch every day?

The first two years of my teaching career, I spent 40 minutes standing in the cafeteria watching the students eat. Lunch duty was not my favorite, but it did allow me to get to know some of my coworkers and see how students treat their peers and their school. I have many a memory from those two years, with most of them involving two things:

1- Improper use of the microwave
2- French fries

The microwave only lasted part way into the school year, which was fortunate, because many a fire could have been started with the cooking times the students were selecting for their pop tarts and honey buns (and the fact that they walked away, expecting me to watch it cook... which I did... because obviously I don't want to watch a fire start).

The french fries on the other hand, appear every day. Students return to their tables with their trays loaded with fries. Pizza and fries, chicken fingers and fries, burgers and fries... and the worst offender of all, cheese-filled bread sticks and fries.

The thing that gets me is that there are healthier options. Our school offers salads and fruit every day. They have switched from white rice to brown rice. I truly am proud of my district for the steps they are taking to provide healthy, balanced meals. Unfortunately, the structure of a high school cafeteria allows students to make poor decisions each day. They have chips, cookies, ice cream, pop and of course french fries available each day, and that is what I see my students eating. Worst of all, they buy extra chips, cookies and candy and eat those as snacks later on in the day. (Considering the first lunch is before 10am, I can't blame them for needing a snack.)

This post was inspired by this article I saw on CNN.com, about a teacher who ate and blogged about her school's food for almost an entire school year. 162 days of school lunches. I don't think I could have done it... and the food at her school made ours look gourmet. Yikes. Well, if one thing is certain, if I ever have kids of my own, I think I will pack their lunch. And make sure they know how to properly use a microwave, even if we do not use one too often at home.